CHARLES F. MARTIN, M. D., has not found it necessary or expedient to go outside his native county in finding a field for successful service in his chosen profession, and his ability and personal popularity mark him as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of Warrick County, where he is established in successful practice at Boonville, the county seat.

Doctor Martin was born on the parental home farm near Newburg, Warrick County, June 2, 1886, and is a son of Charles F. and Laura Frances (Arnold) Martin, both likewise natives of this county, where the former long held prestige as one of the leading exponents of farm industry in Ohio Township and was influential in communal affairs. He held the office of township assessor six years and gave an equal period of service as a member of the board of county commissioners. His father, Carlos F. Martin, served as a member of the Indiana Home Guard in the period of the Civil war. The death of Charles F. Martin, Sr., occurred in 1912 and his wife died in 1900. Of the ten children two died in infancy and seven are living. Minnie became the wife of Thomas Joyce, who served as city policeman and city fireman in Louisville, Kentucky. Mrs. Joyce met a tragic death, in April, 1925, when she was so severely burned in an accident that she did not long survive, she being survived by two children, Margaret and Thomas. Ruby is the wife of Jesse Jackson, who is employed as a shovel runner in a coal mine in Warrick County. Ivan Claude is an electrical engineer and now resides in Cumberland, Maryland. Dr. Charles F., of this review, is the next younger. George C., a retired officer of the United States Navy, is now engaged in the practice of law at Boonville, though he resides at Newburg. He is a member of the firm of Martin, Martin & Martin, in which his two younger brothers, Warren W. and Presley J. L.. are his associates. Miss Gertrude May, younger of the two surviving daughters and next younger than her brother George Q. resides at Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Doctor Martin passed his childhood and early youth on the home farm and the public schools of his native county afforded him his preliminary education. His ambition to prepare himself for the medical profession found definite expression when he went to the fine old metropolis of Kentucky and entered the Louisville and Hospital Medical College. In this well ordered institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1908, and after thus receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he was engaged in practice two years at Mackey, a village in Gibson County. He then, in 1910, established his residence and opened his office in Boonville, where he has since continued in the successful practice of his profession, and where he conducted a private general hospital for four years. He and his wife reside on his fine farm near the city, and there he does a good amount of invigorating work in connection with the farm before making his morning trip to his office at Boonville. He discontinued his general hospital in 1922 and has since given his attention to general practice, in connection with an emergency hospital in connection with his office and he also avails himself of the advantages of Walker Hospital in the City of Evansville. The Doctor has membership in the Warrick County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He served as county coroner in the period of 1912-14. He is politically a Democrat with independent proclivities that cause him in local affairs to support men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment, regardless of strict partisan lines. In his religious faith he was reared in the General Baptist Church, but he has always been of a critical mind on religious lines, and upon the questions of modernism and fundamentalism becoming an issue in most all denominations he readily chose to identify himself with the fundamentalists.

August 28, 1910, marked the marriage of Doctor Martin to Miss Adeline M. L. Nordhorn, who was born and reared in Warrick County, as were also her parents, Henry and Louise (Sunderman) Nordhorn, the parents of the latter having been born in Germany. Henry Nordhorn has long figured as one of the substantial farmers of Warrick County and lives near Lynnville. Doctor and Mrs. Martin have four children, whose names are here recorded: Ruby Matilda, born May 23, 1911, graduated from Boonville High School in 1928; Laura Frances, born November 19, 1913, is a graduate of Boonville High School in the class of 1931; Charles Willard, born October 10, 1916, and George Henry, born June 29, 1921. Miss Ruby M. is in training for the work of a nurse, at Walker Hospital. Charles and George are receiving the benefit of farm life and are getting their primary education at Fuller Seminary District School, located three and a half miles north of Boonville, near the home farm.

The first marriage of Doctor Martin was with Miss Florinda Day and occurred in the city of Evansville, February 11, 1909. Mrs. Martin was born and reared in Warrick County and was a daughter of George O. and Jennie L. (Bullock) Day, both likewise natives of this county, where her father made successful record as a farmer and merchant. Mrs. Martin died about one year after her marriage, she having passed away January 29, 1910, shortly after the birth of her only child, Clara Ruth, who is a graduate of the Boonville High School and, after fifteen months training as a nurse at Walker Hospital, is now assisting her father in his office.

Doctor Martin is a sincere Christian gentleman and tries to deal with all with whom he comes in contact with a Christian spirit, and has ever shown a spirit of appreciation toward his many patients. There is no end to his personal sacrifice as long as he feels that he may be able to render a service that may help some one or maybe save a life, but in so doing he has had to pay a very severe price in a very serious breakdown in health, which has caused him much suffering for several years, but he is glad to get into the homes and do all he can whenever he is able.

Doctor Martin is a family man who takes great pride in his family of five children and cherishes the hope of educating them and glories in their achievements. He also takes pride in his home, which he maintains as one of the beauty spots of the county, living three and one,.half miles from town in the country. His office is above the average for neatness and cleanliness, located in a large brick building in the center of the town, and it is within itself a complete emergency hospital. He is a booster for his town and community and feels that he wants to live and work for those who have helped to make him what he is until he dies, as he has turned down many an offer to become connected with hospitals in other cities, but still he sticks to his home town.

Click here for photo/

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


LEWIS E. GOODRICH, Shelbyville banker, has lived in that community all his life. Shelby County was the birthplace of both his father and grandfather.

Mr. Goodrich was born at Shelbyville March 15, 1874, son of William A. and Margaret (Rapp) Goodrich, and grandson of Lewis Goodrich. His grandfather was a farmer in Sugar Creek Township until the Civil war, when he joined a regiment of Indiana volunteers and had served three years when he was killed in one of the battles of Sherman's campaigns through Georgia, that of Peach Tree Creek. He married Elizabeth Edwards, also of a pioneer family. It was the great-grandfather of Lewis E. Goodrich who was the first member of the family to come to Indiana. William A. Goodrich was a lumberman by occupation and always active in fraternal organizations and a devoted Republican. He and his wife had a family of three sons.

Lewis E. Goodrich attended the grade and high schools of Shelbyville and was only fifteen years of age when he was getting his first training in a commercial career as clerk in a grocery store. In 1892, when he was seventeen, he was employed by the First National Bank of Shelbyville as bookkeeper, and has been with that institution steadily for thirty-seven years, earning promotions to general ledger clerk, assistant cashier, in 1924 became cashier, and since April, 1926, has been vice president and a director of one of the strongest banks in Southeastern Indiana. He is also a director of the Union Building Association and has frequently been given positions of financial trust. He has been treasurer of the Business Club and treasurer of the First Methodist Episcopal Building Association. During the World war he was associated with the president of the bank in the various drives for the sale of bonds and the raising of war funds.

Mr. Goodrich first married Maggie Mook, who died, leaving a daughter, Helene, who is now the wife of Leonard F. Cherry. Mr. Goodrich's second wife was Lillian Rosebrock, who left a daughter, Mildred, now the wife of Frank C. Yarling. Mr. Goodrich's third wife was Mary Schmoe, of Hancock County, Indiana. Mr. Goodrich is a member of the Indiana State and American Bankers Associations, is a Kiwanian and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


W. C. DUNCAN. The subject of this sketch, as the name implies, is of Scottish descent and dates back in Scotland to the early king of that country, Malcomb Duncan.

His ancestors came to America in the eighteenth century, settling in Virginia, where his grandfather, Alamander Duncan; was born. The grandfather moved to Stokes County, North Carolina, where Alexander Duncan, father of W. C. Duncan, was born.

The father having married Sarah F. Reddick in 1836, moved to Indiana in 1837, settling first in Marion County, Indiana, as a tenant farmer, where the subject of this sketch together with three brothers and nine sisters were born, and all of these lived to maturity except one brother and one sister, these dying in childhood.

The father moved with his family to Brown County in 1860, and purchased a farm in the western part of the county. The father, as may be supposed of one who had so large a family, had to be very resourceful, and besides raising all the usual farm crops, and stock growing, grew broom corn and made the same into brooms, and as his father was a shoemaker by trade, he picked up enough of the trade to make and repair shoes. When his son, the subject of this sketch, was ten years of age the father made him a pair of shoes from boot legs, as all the men wore boots in those days, and the long legs of these boots would be but little worn when the rest of the boot was worn out. These shoes the boy carefully oiled and placed in a good dark place for Sunday or special trips to town, if one was offered.

The crisis came when the boy was to accompany the father to Bloomington for the first time. He rushed for his shoes and drew them forth to find, alas the rats had found them and had eaten the whole front out of the shoes, to get the grease with which they were saturated.

As this trip was to break the isolation of a year or two at home, the boy suppressed his pride and, somewhat ashamed, he went to Bloomington barefooted.

W. C. Duncan grew up on the farm in Brown County, Indiana, about twelve miles east of Bloomington. His early education was greatly handicapped by the extremely short terms of the common schools, and of even these he was deprived of one year by illness, the result of an accident and injury, and of another by the strenuous partisan conditions during the Civil war, when no one in accord with the copperhead spirit of the neighborhood could be found to teach the school and although a brilliant young man, John Story, was selected by the township trustee, the patrons by a majority decided not to have any school at all that year rather than have one taught by a Union man.

However, by close application to study of the grade school books and reading of the finely selected books of the old Township Library, he began teaching in the grade schools in Brown County at the age of eighteen.

The year following he came to Bartholomew County, seeking a longer term of school and better wages, and taught a school in Harrison Township in this county.

In the following year, on his birthday, June 24, 1871, he took the examination, and entered Indiana University, where he pursued his studies for four years, graduating June 12th with the degree of Bachelor of Science in the class of 1875. During this period, when his funds, saved by teaching, for his education at the university, ran low (in the junior year) he taught a term of school in Brown County, kept up his college course, and took the examination successfully and entered the Senior year with his class.

The year following he taught a long term of school in Bartholomew County and began the study of the law, in the fall of 1876, attending law school at Bloomington for three months. His health having then failed to some extent he quit school and entered the law office of Judge Richard L. Coffey at Nashville, Indiana. In the early part of the year 1877 he finished a term of school in Nashville, Indiana, when the teacher, Mattie McCullough, of Bloomington, resigned. Through the year 1877 and 1878 he continued his law studies with Judge Coffey.

Having been born and reared a Democrat,. when the joint convention of that party in the counties of Bartholomew and Brown met in the spring of 1878 he was a delegate to this convention, which met to nominate candidates for judge, joint senator, prosecuting attorney and representative to the General Assembly of Indiana. There were two candidates for prosecuting attorney, W. W. Browning and Gilbert F. Little, both of Nashville, between whom a spirited and somewhat bitter contest was being waged, and the result was that the convention united upon and nominated Mr. Duncan, although he was not a candidate. He was elected to this office, serving a term, from 1879 to 1881.

In 1882 he was nominated and elected joint senator, representing the counties of Bartholomew, Brown and Monroe, and having so served for four years, was renominated and reelected in 1886, for an additional term of four years in that office.

During his first term as senator it was his great pleasure to support a bill for the endowment of his alma mater, Indiana University, which gave a favorable turn to its struggles, toward the grand achievements which now mark its educational advancement and standing.

During his second term he was an active member of the session of 1889, which has been, and deserves to be, placed in history as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, reform legislature that ever assembled in Indiana. Some of the notable achievements were: The Australian Ballot Law, which practically ended the shameful system of corrupting the electorate which had existed in Indiana for many years; the law rescuing the great.benevolent institutions of the state from the blighting effects of partisanship; the State Board of Charities Law; and the Board of Childrens Guardian Law, which last named laws have revolutionized the treatment of children throughout the state, as well as the state's wards in said institutions.

In 1892 Mr. Duncan moved with his family to Columbus and engaged in the practice of the law, and fully intended to limit his future activities to the practice of his profession, as he did not agree with the growing tendency of his party to espouse the cause of fiat money and free and unlimited coinage of silver.

He was fully conversant with the history of finance, as this was one of the main subjects taught in his senior year in college and his views were irrevocably fixed for a sound and stable national currency.

It was therefore a great pleasure to him to vote, in 1892, for Grover Cleveland (the great apostle of and political martyr to sound finance in the United States) for President in that year. But as his party continued to go even to greater lengths under the leadership of Mr. Bryan, for the debasement of the national currency, Mr. Duncan allied himself with the Republican party thereafter, and soon became identified with Theodore Roosevelt and his policies, and stayed with him and followed his leadership while he lived.

Besides his activities in the practice of the law he has been a leader in every cause espoused by him. In social welfare work and financial concerns of every kind touched by him he impressed his personality for the best results. As a member, president of and attorney for the Board of Children's Guardian of Bartholomew County for twenty-seven years, under his leadership this board was the first in this state to interpret an early law as authorizing such boards to render aid to needy and deserving mothers in the rearing of their dependent children in their own homes. And such policy was subsequently adopted throughout Indiana. He was president of the County Board of Charities for twenty years, and no investigation needed or report to be made but was promptly attended to with his personal support. He was also a member of the City Board of Health of Columbus for eight years.

During this time the late Dr. R. E. Holder was secretary of such board and, cooperation with him and the city administration, a great many progressive and practical ordinances were brought forward and adopted, and are now upon the ordinance book of said city.

Not the least of such services were rendered during the World war, when the deadly epidemic of influenza invaded the City of Columbus. Ordinances were drawn enforcing ventilation in all public buildings and in private business where any number of people were likely to congregate, and lectures upon the value of fresh air as an agency in fighting the disease were given to various assembled groups of citizens.

In 1925 his social welfare activities were greatly increased by his appointment by the Bartholomew Circuit Court as probation officer. During the five succeeding years the records of this official service shows that by the help and cooperation of the homes, the schools, the Boys Club and other friendly allied groups not less than 150 boys and 25 girls have been saved at home, instead of being sent to institutions for reformation.

In 1921, he organized and has successfully conducted the Bartholomew County National Farm Loan Association, which has already loaned more than a half million dollars ($500,000) to Bartholomew County Farmers, The same local bankers who at first opposed this system of loaning money, later acknowledged its value to the community, and some extended personal thanks to Mr. Duncan, for the relief that this capital brought into business.

Many other community and group activities of importance well known to his friends and neighbors are not here enumerated.

Mr. Duncan is a member of the Christian Church and is a Free and Accepted Mason.

He was married in 1881 to Jane E. Buskirk, who was born in White County, Indiana. Four children now living were born of this marriage, viz,: Edith Duncan, now of New York City; Jessie B. Hiler, now of Long View, Illinois; William T. Duncan, a farmer of Bartholomew County; and Grace Duncan Ender, of Washington, D. C. The daughters are all graduates of Columbus High School and all graduated as trained nurses. Edith holds her graduating diploma from the Roosevelt Hospital in New York. Jessie graduated from the Philadelphia General Hospital (Blockley), the oldest in America, and Grace took her diploma from the Presbyterian Hospital in New York.

Click here for photo.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


DR. ROBERT W. GEHRES is a talented physician and surgeon, a native of Indiana, and has built up a fine reputation and a large practice since locating at Shelbyville.

He was born in Carroll County, Indiana, June 26, 1897, son of Rev. A. W. Gehres and Maud M. (Sharp) Gehres. The Gehres family left Germany to escape the religious persecutions of that country and settled in Pennsylvania about 1746. The Sharp family went to Virginia, establishing a home in that colony about 1748. Doctor Gehres' grandfather, Godfrey Gehres, was a native of Pennsylvania and moved to Indiana about 1850. He was a farmer. Rev. A. W. Gehres spent his active life in the ministry of the Christian Church and in educational work. He was born in Carroll County, Indiana, and at one time was nominated on the Prohibition ticket for the office of lieutenant governor. His wife, Maud M. Sharp, was a native of Clinton County, Indiana. .

Dr. Robert W. Gehres was one of a family of nine children. He graduated from the Mulberry High School in Clinton County, Indiana, following which he spent two years in a general course in Indiana University. He left school as soon as America declared war on Germany, in April,1917, enlisted in the Heavy Artillery Corps, but in October, 1917, was transferred to the Medical Corps and was in that service until after the armistice. On returning to Indiana he resumed his studies at Indiana University, in the school of medicine, and took his M. D. degree in 1925. Doctor Gehres had two years of experience and training as an interne in the Indianapolis City Hospital. In October, 1926, he located at Shelbyville, and has enjoyed a successful experience in his professional work and that community has accepted him as one of its very able and competent doctors. He is a member of the staff of the local hospital and belongs to the Shelby County, Indiana State and American Medical Associations. He is a member of the American Legion Post, is a Royal Arch Mason and is affiliated with the Kiwanis Club.

Doctor Gehres married Dorothy G. Hull, of St. Joseph County, Indiana. They have two children, Richard Walter and Mary Emily.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


JOHN DAY DEPREZ is a member of a family that has played a notable part in the history of Shelby County, Indiana. He was himself born at Shelbyville, October 1, 1872. His own activities have been rather diversified, but for fully a quarter of a century he has been occupied with the routine and responsibility of managing and directing Shelby County's old and honored newspaper, the Shelbyville Daily Democrat.

The Shelbyville Democrat was established in 1844, as a weekly four-page paper. The daily issue was established in 1880, at which time each issue comprised a four-page, five-column paper. Today the average size is ten pages of eight columns each. The Shelbyville Daily Democrat has a circulation of 4,500 copies, distributed allover Shelby and surrounding counties. The business is a well organized and equipped publishing house and fully twenty people are employed in the daily production of the paper. The president of the publishing company is Wray E. Fleming, the vice president is Pleas E. Greenlee, and Mr. DePrez is secretary, treasurer and manager.

Mr. DePrez is of French Huguenot ancestry. The family endured the persecution accorded to members of the Protestant faith and sought refuge across the Rhine .in the Alsace-Lorraine district. Mr. DePrez's grandfather, John DePrez, was born in Alsace-Lorraine. One of the family had come to America as early as 1800 and settled in Ohio. John DePrez came to America about 1820 and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, moving to Shelby County, Indiana, in 1848. His son, John C. DePrez, was born at Cincinnati, Ohio. He became prominent as a furniture manufacturer, he and two associates establishing the first factary for the making of furniture at Shelbyville. John C. DePrez married Zora L. Miller, and they had a family of four children. John C. DePrez was for a number of years a member of the Shelbyville School Board.

His son, John D. DePrez, attended the Shelbyville schools, also Hanover College, and eight years of his early manhood were spent in the duties of assistant cashier of the Shelby Bank. In 1904 he assisted in organizing the Democrat Publishing Company, which acquired the Shelbyville Daily Democrat, and the affairs of that newspaper have constituted his chief business responsibility.

Mr. DePrez married Miss Emma Senour, of Shelbyville. They are members of the First Presbyterian Church. He is a Rotarian, is affiliated with Shelbyville Lodge No. 28, A. F. and A. M., Shelbyville Chapter No. 3, Royal Arch Masons, Shelbyville Council No.3, R. and S. M., Baldwin Commandery No.2, Knights Templar, and Murat Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Indianapolis. He is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, a member of the B. P. O. Elks, Improved Order of Red Men, Loyal Order of Moose and the Tribe of Ben Hur. Like his father, he has served on the school board and has been a member of the state Democratic executive committee. During the World war he was chairman of several committees and handled much of the publicity work in connection with the Liberty Bond drives. He was awarded two medals by the Treasury Department for his effective service.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


F. H. LIMPUS is an Indiana insurance man, has built up a large business in that line at Shelbyville, and has charge of the insurance department of the Security Trust & Savings Bank of that city.

Mr. Limpus was born in Shelby County, February 12, 1886, son of C. J. and Martha (Dunn) Limpus, and grandson of William E. Limpus, who came to Indiana in the early 1830s and acquired land and developed a farm in Shelby Township of Shelby County. C. J. Limpus was born in Franklin County, Indiana, and served all through the Civil war as a Union soldier . Farming was his occupation. He was much interested in public affairs and always voted the Republican ticket.

F. H. Limpus was one of four children. He attended the common schools of Shelby County, graduated from the Shelbyville High School, and continued his studies in Indiana University. In 1909 he established his insurance business, and has developed a general insurance service that covers most of the communities in Shelby County. Since 1916 he has been head of the insurance department of the Security Trust & Savings Bank, and during the World war he had charge of all the Liberty Loan bonds for this bank.

Mr. Limpus is a Rotarian, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Sons of Veterans and a Methodist. He is one of the board of trustees of the city schools of Shelbyville.

He married Miss Mary Wooley, of Decatur County, Indiana. They have two children, Martha Ann and James A. Mr. Limpus is a member of the Blue River Country Club and has always been a follower and supporter of wholesome athletic sports.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


HARRY H. WALKER, whose ancestors came to Shelby County and took up Government land more than a century ago, has spent most of his life in commercial affairs and is president and founder of the Walker Wholesale Grocery Company of Shelbyville.

This very progressive and prosperous institution was organized in 1912. Closely associated with Mr. Walker at that time was his son. The firm was incorporated in 1917. The business organization has a fine reputation among the larger houses over the country and has built up a splendid business in its normal territory, comprising about six counties around Shelbyville. The company had a modern new building, with fireproof warehouse, affording over 27,000 square feet of floor space. Twelve persons are employed in the business, on the inside and outside, and a fleet of motor trucks are used for deliveries to the retail stores in Shelbyville.

Mr. Walker was born in Shelby County, July 24, 1860. His grandfather, Francis C. Walker, was born in New York State, of Scotch ancestry, a son of Francis Walker, Sr., who came to America with his brother shortly after the close of the Revolutionary war. His brother settled in Pennsylvania. Francis C. Walker came to Indiana in 1820 and settled on a tract of Government land in section 13 of Addison Township, Shelby County, and the records of this agricultural community have been impressed by members of the Walker family ever since. Francis Walker became one of the large land owners of the county. Henry R. Walker, father of the Shelbyville merchant, was also born in Shelby County, and married Elizabeth Woodard, of that county, whose family came here in the early 1820s.

Harry H. Walker was the oldest in a family of six children. He attended the public schools of Shelby County, and his first business after leaving school was farming and dairying. He was in the dairy business until he was twenty-nine. In 1888 he moved his home to Shelbyville and was a retail grocery merchant in that city until 1911. In addition to his wholesale grocery business he is a director and vice president of the Union Building Association and a director of the First National Bank. He is a member of the Wholesale Grocers Association.

During the World war he was active in all the drives for the sale of bonds and raising of funds for the Red Cross and other purposes. He is a Republican, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a past grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, member of the B. P. O. Elks and Improved Order of Red Men. He served a term or two as a member of the City Council.

Mr. Walker first married Vanie Pollick, who died in 1880. Afterwards he married Grace Barron, of Cass County, Indiana, whose people were in Indiana before the close of the territorial period. Her grandfather acted as an interpreter between the famous Chief Tecumseh and Gen. William H. Harrison after the battle of Tippecanoe. Mr. Walker by his second marriage has two children: George M., a graduate of DePauw University, now general manager of the Harry H. Walker Wholesale Grocery Company, married Mary F. Messick, of Shelby County; and Ruth E. is the wife of J. Frank Deitzer, a Shelbyville business man, and has a daughter, Patricia. George M. Walker was secretary of the Rotary Club in 1926, is a Phi Beta Kappa of DePauw University, member of the Masonic fraternity, and is a past exalted ruler of the B. P. O. Elks.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


CHARLES ROBERT MATHER. Engineering, that branch of science dealing with the design, construction and operation of various machines, structures and engines used in everyday life, is divided into many branches. Perhaps civil engineering is the most important of these, embracing as it does the arts of architecture, surveying, bridge, railroad, harbor and canal construction, and the building trades. The modern civil engineer should have a knowledge of the fundamental principles of mathematics, mechanics, draughting, geodesy, surveying and various forms of construction, and the profession covers so wide a field that of late years many civil engineers specialize in certain branches. Among the men who have won recognition in this difficult and interesting profession in Clark County, one who has mastered its many perplexities and technicalities and has accomplished a number of notable achievements is Charles Robert Mather, city engineer of Jeffersonville.

Mr. Mather was born at Jeffersonville, June 26, 1900, and is a son of Charles and Margaret (Mandel) Mather. The Mather family is one of the oldest in the New England states and Charles Mather was born at Norwich, Connecticut. After acquiring a public school education he learned the trade of cigar-maker, and as such came to Jeffersonville about 1884, where he followed his trade for many years and then engaged in business on his own account. He was widely known in his vocation, and for a number of years was an executive member of the Cigar Makers Union. Mr. Mather married Miss Margaret Mandel, who was born in Indiana, a daughter of Hon. Richard Mandel, one of Indiana's most distinguished citizens. Richard Mandel was a pioneer settler of the state, and as a youth took part in the Black Hawk war. He likewise participated in the Mexican war, and at the outbreak of the war between the states espoused the cause of the Union and served gallantly with Indiana troops. He was a prominent and substantial business man of New Albany and for several terms served in the Legislature of the state. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Mather: Emma, Marian and Charles Robert.

Charles Robert Mather attended the grade t and high schools of Jeffersonville, and following his graduation from the latter enrolled as a student at Lane Technical School, Chicago, Illinois, specializing in engineering. On leaving that institution he returned to Jeffersonville, where he entered upon the practice of his profession as an engineer, and soon built up a large and important clientele. On December 1, 1928, Mr. Mather was appointed city engineer of Jeffersonville, and this position he has since continued to hold, with offices in the City Hall Building. He is a member of several organizations of his profession, in which he is recognized as being capable and thoroughly grounded in all principles.

Mr. Mather married Miss Mary Mannix, of Grayson County, Kentucky, a member of an old and well-known family of that state, which traces its ancestry back many generations in this country. To this union there has been born one son: Charles Richard. Mr. Mather has always been interested in civic affairs, and during the World war took a prominent part in securing funds for our fighting forces. He is a member of Jeffersonville Lodge No. 340, A. F. and A. M., and a student of the ritual, and also holds membership in the Temple Club.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


HON. GEORGE W. LONG, former state senator, has won many well deserved distinctions as a lawyer and public official. He has practiced law for nearly thirty years and is one of the leaders of the bar of Columbus.

He was born at Edinburg in Johnson County, Indiana, November 20, 1877. His grandfather, Cornelius Long, came from Pennsylvania and settled in Switzerland County, Indiana, in the early '40s. He was a farmer and that was also the occupation of Mr. Long's father, Charles E. Long, who was born at Edinburg and spent his life in Indiana. Charles E. Long married Adeline Robbins and they were the parents of seven children.

George W. Long attended grade schools in Brown County, spent one year in the Hope Normal School, also attended the Central Indiana Normal School at Danville. He completed his law education in Indiana University in 1901 and took up the active work of his career at Nashville in Brown County in 1902. Since 1918 he has practiced at Columbus. He was appointed and served as deputy prosecuting attorney of Brown County for five years. In 1908 he was elected a member of the State Senate and he was also county attorney of Brown County for several years.

During the World war Mr. Long was chairman of the Brown County Liberty Loan drives and also a member of the Legal Advisory Board and one of the four-minute speakers in carrying out the local patriotic program. He is secretary and a director of the Bartholomew County Building & Loan Association, is a member of the Bartholomew County, Fourth District and Indiana Bar Associations. He is affiliated with the Masonic Fraternity and Eastern Star and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Mr. Long married Lula Crouch, of Nashville, Indiana. They have two children, Miss Dorris N., a student nurse at the Robert Long Hospital, and Charles W., attending school.

Click here for photo.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


DR. C. FRED INLOW, M. D., with his two brothers, William DePrez and Herbert Haehl Inlow, comprise the Inlow Clinic of Shelbyville. Few towns of the size of Shelbyville have such superior facilities as are represented in this organization. Each of these doctors brings some special skill and training to the clinic, and individually and collectively they represent the best resources of surgery, medicine, diagnosis and the technological aids in practice.

Dr. C. Fred Inlow was born at Manilla, Rush County, Indiana, September 2, 1894, son of C. E. and Alice M. (Haehl) Inlow. His grandfather, Dr. John J. Inlow, was an old time physician in Southern Indiana. He was a native of Kentucky, finished his education in the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati and for four years practiced at Martha's Mills in Kentucky. About eighty years ago he came to Indiana, walking from Martha's Mills, and in subsequent years made himself a valuable factor in that section of Rush County, where he lived out his life. He was of Virginia ancestry. C. E. Inlow was born at Manilla and followed farming as a vocation. He was always active in local affairs, serving on the school board and the township board.

Dr. C. Fred Inlow was one of a family of four children. He attended grade school at Manilla, graduated from the Shelbyville High School and also attended Indiana University. He is an A. B. graduate of the University of Chicago, where he took his pre-medical course and finished his professional training in Rush Medical College, the affiliated school of medicine of the university. He was graduated M. D. in 1921 and had the benefit of two years of interne experience and for fifteen months was assigned special work with the United States Veterans Hospital. For one year he was in the St. Anthony Hospital and in July, 1923, returned to Shelbyville, where he has had a very successful practice, both individually and as a member of the clinic. He is a member of the Shelby County, Indiana State and American Medical Associations. For three months before the armistice he was a hospital apprentice in the United States Navy. He is service officer of his post of the American Legion, is a member of the B. P. O. Elks and votes as a Democrat. Doctor Inlow married Miss Fay M. Smith, of Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Inlow Clinic has its quarters in the First Methodist Building at Shelbyville.

Dr. William DePrez Inlow was educated at Manilla, in the Shelbyville High School, attended the University of Chicago and was graduated M. D. from Rush Medical College in 1917. He was a surgeon in the Cook County Hospital of Chicago and in July, 1918, was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps, serving until February, 1919. He was assigned to the Two Hundred and Forty-third Field Hospital, Eleventh Sanitary Train with the LaFayette Division. He has had a wonderful training in surgery. For three years he was with the Mayo Clinic, was appointed a fellow in surgery in the Mayo Foundation at the University of Minnesota and also had post-graduate work in Vienna under Dr. Hans Finisterer and studied in Paris with the Alliance Francaise during 1921-22. He received many special commendations during his work as a Mayo operator. He is a member of the Shelby County, Indiana State and American Medical Associations, is a Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Pi, a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Herbert H. Inlow, the third member of the Inlow Clinic, was a student in Indiana University in 1917-18, took his A. B. degree at the University of Chicago in 1920 and in 1923 graduated M. D. from Rush Medical College. He spent one year as an interne with United States Veterans Hospital No. 30 at Chicago and for three months was with the Presbyterian Hospital in that city, specializing in x-ray work. He joined his brothers in the clinic at Shelbyville in 1926. He is a member of the Radiological Society of America, a charter member of the Indiana Roentgen Society, a member of the County, Indiana State and American Medical Associations and is an Alpha Omega Alpha.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


ERASTUS W. McDANIEL, who has been a practicing lawyer for over thirty-seven years, is a resident of Shelbyville, a former member of the law firm McDaniel & Myers, and there are other relationships and activities that distinguish his name among the citizens of Shelby County.

He was born in Jasper County, Illinois, February 28, 1863. His grandfather, John McDaniel, was a native of Kentucky. He was reared by some Indians, who afterwards told him that his parents had died of the cholera before his earliest recollection. He lived with Indians in the Kentucky backwoods, and became proficient in all the arts and woodcraft of the Red Men. He was quite a good sized boy when the War of 1812 broke out and he acted as a hostler in Gen. William Henry Harrison's army. He was present at the battle of the Thames, near Detroit, when the great ally of the British, Tecumseh, was killed. After the war he returned to Kentucky and lived among white people. He married Hannah Brown, of a distinguished Southern family.

Andrew J. McDaniel, father of the Shelbyville attorney, was born in Decatur County, Indiana, and about 1856 moved to Illinois. In October, 1867, he returned to Indiana and bought a farm in Liberty Township of Shelby County. On this farm he lived out his life, and the land is still owned by his children, of whom there were four in number. Andrew J. McDaniel married Emaline Palmerton.

Erastus W. McDaniel was four years of age when his parents located in Shelby County. He grew up on the home farm, attended the local schools, and during his youth and early manhood was associated with his father in the operation of the farm, part of which he now owns. He attended the Central Normal College at Danville, and was teacher of schools in Rush and Shelby counties. In the meantime he was studying law, pursuing his reading with the firm of Hord & Adams, and in 1892 was admitted to the bar, since which date the law has commanded his utmost attention. He also has farming interests. Mr. McDaniel was appointed county attorney and served in that office from 1900 to 1905, and from 1913 to 1917 was assistant reporter of the Supreme Court under Phillip Zoercher. From 1918 to 1922 he was city attorney of Shelbyville. He has filled all the chairs in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a member of the Indiana State and Shelby County Bar Associations, and has been quite active as a Democrat, serving on party committees.

Mr. McDaniel married Eva L. Bidinger, of Rush County. Her father, Jefferson Lantz, was a son of John Lantz, a pioneer who came from Kentucky to Indiana in 1820 and became one of the largest land owners in Shelby County. He was a man of great public spirit and was an important character in the pioneer history of the county. Mr. and Mrs. McDaniel have one son, Frank L., a farmer by occupation. He married Ida Niehaus, of Cincinnati, and the three grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. McDaniel are Jack, Marilyn and Bobbie.

During the World war Mr. McDaniel helped in all the war drives, selling Liberty Bonds, War Stamps and raising funds for the Red Cross, and was chief of the American Protective League, one of the valuable agencies cooperating with the Department of Justice.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


RICHARD D. ZELLER. Three generations of the Zeller family have been prominent factors in the coal mining industry of Indiana. Their holdings and operations have been located in several sections of Southern Indiana, chiefly in Clay and Knox counties. Richard D. Zeller, whose home is at Bicknell in Knox County, is the family representative of the largest coal mine in Indiana, known as the American Mine.

Richard D. Zeller was born at Brazil, Indiana, in 1899. His grandfather, John H. Zeller, was the pioneer member of the family in the coal mining industry of Indiana and operated several mines in the vicinity of Brazil. William M. Zeller, father of Richard D., was one of the three men who developed the No.1 American Mine in Knox County in 1912. He spent all his active life in the coal mining industry, retiring from business in 1923. He was born in Indiana.

Richard D. Zeller is the youngest of the five brothers who now own and operate the American Mine, and the family are also interested in the Clay Products Industry, centering around Brazil in Clay County. Richard D. Zeller attended school at Brazil, and for three years was a student in the University of Indiana. He has had his business headquarters at Bicknell since 1921, acting as purchasing agent for the American Mine. This American Mine has an average production of 6,000 tons of coal daily, with a working force of over 900 men.

Mr. Zeller is a member of the B. P. O. Elks. He married Alice Cavanaugh, of Washington, Indiana. They have two children, Richard D., Jr., and Mary Alice.

His brother Larry Zeller, who graduated from the University of Illinois in 1917, is another member of the family in Knox County, being superintendent of the Knox County Fourth Vein Mine.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


MISS BERTHA BOWLBY. The Shelbyville Public Library, which was opened November 1, 1897, with a thousand volumes in its collection, has steadily grown through the past thirty years, enlarging its service in keeping with the standards of public libraries over the country and also corresponding to the general growth and progress of the cultural agencies of this Indiana city. The library was first housed in one of the school buildings. A library building was made possible by a donation of twenty thousand dollars from Andrew Carnegie and was completed in 1903. The library today has a total of about nineteen thousand volumes.

The librarian is Miss Bertha Bowlby, who has two assistants. She was born in Shelby County, daughter of Dr. Joseph and Mary Ellen (Yarling) Bowlby. Her early education was acquired in Shelby County. She took the library course of training in Butler University at Indianapolis and in Columbia University of New York. Miss Bowlby has been connected with the public library at Shelbyville since 1913, serving as assistant librarian until April, 1919, when she was made librarian.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


EDWARD G. SCHULTZ is owner of the E. G. Schultz Furniture Company at Greensburg. This is an old established house, and has been in business for forty years as manufacturers and dealers in furniture and as embalmers and undertakers.

Edward G. Schultz was born at Batesville, Indiana, April 29, 1869. His father; William Schultz, was a native of Ripley County, Indiana, and married Margaret Schwier, who came from Minden, Germany. William Schultz was the founder of the Union Furniture Company of Batesville, and in April, 1890, started a furniture store at Greensburg. He continued active in the business for many years. At the same time he started the furniture business he also established an undertaking department. William Schultz was one of the first licensed embalmers in the State of Indiana.

Edward G. Schultz since taking over the business has done a great deal to extend its scope and has constantly added and adapted his business to the demands of modern times. He introduced a complete motor equipment for the undertaking department, and at the present time employs five motor vehicles. His store has 15,000 square feet of floor space, providing room for a large stock of furniture and household equipment, including stoves and ranges. Six persons are employed in the establishment. This is a business with a trade extending throughout Decatur and adjoining counties.

Edward G. Schultz married Martha Hightower, of Decatur County. He is a Knight Templar Mason and member of Murat Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Indianapolis.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


Deb Murray